


Burnt Cookies, Apple Pie

by Miran4242



Series: Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: College AU, Cooking, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 22:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20299117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miran4242/pseuds/Miran4242
Summary: A bad day at work leads to Emma learning some new skills.





	Burnt Cookies, Apple Pie

**Author's Note:**

> Just some more Swan Queen kitchen fluff

Emma was having a bad day.

Some mistakes on paperwork had meant being yelled at by the sheriff for messing up a case. Her car had broken down and had to be towed, and after all of that she'd had to walk home because all her friends were taking vacations or actually doing something productive with their summers.

She knew that she should just take the police academy test, get started. But it wasn't the right time, she wanted to intern some more etc etc. That's the line she gave to anyone who asked. But the truth was she was scared. Being a police officer was all she'd wanted since she was a little girl. What if she didn't make it? Or worse, what if she got there and didn't want it anyway?

So she'd come home, needing to work off steam so she'd decided to bake. That's what people did when they were upset, right? She'd shuffled through her shelves and found them decidedly lacking. Her shelves were to the left of the stove, near where the counter turned into the sink. Regina's were to the right. She couldn't help thinking that Regina must have more in hers than sugar and flour and a half eaten bag of chocolate chips.

But that was ok. She could do cookies. Simple.

But it hadn't been as simple as she thought. Something with the baking soda or the cooking time or maybe she'd just added too many chocolate chips? Either way they came out looking like half burnt dark brown lumps. Embarrassingly, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes looking at them. 

Fuck.

She tossed her burnt cookies on the stove top and found a bottle of wine in the fridge, half drunk from when Ruby was over last. She plopped down on the kitchen floor with it and decided she would spend the night there.

And that's how Regina found her. She heard the door click open quietly and the soft tap of the other womans heels against the floorboards. She couldn't bring herself to care, even when Regina appeared around the corner, looking beautifully professional in her black skirt and blouse.

"I was just..." Emma looked around her at the mess she'd made. "baking"

Regina quirked an eyebrow. Emma decided that it was the wine that was making her think that was attractive. 

"I see." She said. She slipped out of her heels and moved to the oven, taking a look at Emma's sad excuse for cookies. She made another hmm noise in her throat.

"Maybe cookies weren't a good start." She said finally. 

Emma laughed, and was surprised at how harsh it sounded. She wiped her with the back of her hand. "Maybe not."

Suddenly Regina was moving. She swept the used sugar and baking soda off the counter and back to the shelves. She grabbed an apron from where it rested forgotten on the oven door. Then she handed Emma a dirtied bowl. "Clean this." She said.

Emma listened without question. It felt good to be given a task she could accomplish. Contrary to how she kept her parts of the house, she could clean dishes. She washed the bowl as Regina erased the mistakes she'd made like they were nothing. The counters nearly sparkled.

"Ok. Now we can get started." 

Regina wiped her hands on a towel and then reached for her own cupboards. Emma had been right in her assessment. Regina's cupboards were full to the brim of supplies and spices. When did she have time to cook? And how had Emma missed it? She pulled out her own sugar and flour, as well as grabbing some butter from the fridge.

"What do you like in pie?"

Emma retrieved her wine bottle from the floor. To be honest she had never been a big fan of pie. But Regina was in charge, and so she said the first kind that came to mind. 

"Apples?"

The smile that spread across Regina's face could have launched ships at Troy.

That was also the wine talking. 

"Right choice " Regina said. "I'll show you how to knead the dough, and then I'll get the filling ready."

Baking with Regina was something unlike anything Emma had ever done. Every step was accounted for. She knew when to knead and when to clean and when to add in sugar of fold in butter. Emma was wont to vaguely follow directions from google, but Regina seemed to know every step like it was her own heartbeat. A stray bit of flour had gotten through the flurry of her cleaning and landed on her nose. Emma couldn’t help looking at is Regina bossed her around the kitchen. Her hands ached to wipe it away. Then her eyes drifted lower. There was a scar on her lips that Emma had never noticed before.

“Are you ok?” 

She snapped out of her reverie to realize that she had been staring at Regina for several seconds. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, just- um” Emma smiled sheepishly. “Why are you studying to be a lawyer?”

That hadn’t been what she wanted to say. She’d wanted to ask about her scar or how she got her hair to smell like that or how she’d learned to cook. Instead she saw the smile leave Reginas face as she folded the dough a final time. 

“Why do you ask?” She said. Her tone was cold. Emma guessed this was the way people in class knew her.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry...it’s just. You don’t seem to like it very much.” As usual her mouth kept going after she wanted it to. “I’ve never seen you… happy before?”

“Yes, well.” At first, Emma didn’t think Regina was going to answer. She quietly placed the folded dough in the fridge and wiped her hands on her apron. “My mother insisted I make something of myself. She chose my college, she signed me up for law school. I imagine she’ll choose my firm as well when I graduate.” Regina grabbed a glass from another one of her cupboards, pouring herself a glass of wine like a human being.

“Sounds like your mom needs to lay off you.” 

Emma recognized her own harshness in Regina's smile. “I’ll be sure to tell her you said that. My one sweet rebellion was living here instead of at home”

Emma glanced around their apartment. It wasn’t horrible. It had nice floors and air conditioning. There were a few more roaches than she thought reasonable and even when Emma remembered to do chores it wasn’t the cleanest. If Emma had a home she would prefer mooching off her parents a bit while struggling through law school. 

“You escaped here?” She asked a bit incredulous. 

Regina swirled her wine and took a sip. Her lipstick stained the glass. “It’s better than home with my mother.” She raised a glass in Emma’s direction and smiled her smile again. “Definitely better company.”

Emma returned the smile, and rummaged through her cupboards for a mug. It was one she had stolen from the Sheriffs office. It had a little badge on it and everything. She poured herself a mug of wine and leaned against the counter. 

“Bad day?” Regina said.

Emma nodded.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Emma shook her head. Regina had already witnessed her crying, she did not need to hear how she got chewed out at work and her walking home sob story. She had her pride.

“Can I ask you a question then?” 

Emma nodded again.

“Why aren't you in the police academy? Isn’t that what you want to do?”

Of course Regina would hit at the heart of it. Emma balled her fists. The instinct to tell Regina to mind her business bubbled from her unbidden. But she had asked Regina about her career, and she was nothing if not fair. 

“I’m just ...scared I guess.”

To her surprise she heard Regina  _ laugh _ . If smiling was rare, then laughing was unheard of. She was too surprised to be angry. She watched the way Regina’s head fell forwards and she covered her mouth, as though the laugh came unbidden. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just, Emma Swan afraid? I’ve just never considered it.”

“Oh I’m scared of a lot of things! Wolves...and yeah mostly wolves.”

She reveled in the way Regina laughed again as she turned to pull the apples out of the fridge. 

“ In all seriousness...It’s my big dream, so once I start really pursuing it... that's it.”

Regina nodded. “That makes sense.” She pulled out an unreasonable amount of apples, a cutting board and a large knife, which kind of undercut the validation she was giving. “But, you have to start somewhere.” She handed the knife to Emma. “Perhaps, slicing apples?”

Emma took the knife, “That I can handle.”

Regina explained that the secret of good apples were good apples and thinly cut slices. The apples she apparently grew at home and got sent to her from her mom, but the slicing would be up to Emma. Surprising no one, she wasn’t great at it.

“Like this?” She asked Regina, wincing as her knife clumsily made it’s way through the apple. Only she could be bad at cutting. Regina winced watching her. 

“Here, may I?” Before she could prepare herself Regina came up behind her, placing her hands gently on her wrists. Her hands were soft but firm, and Emma felt goosebumps prickle her arms at the other woman's touch.

_ Jeez Emma. _

Regina guided her hands and she made slices that were unbelievably thin. To her surprise, when Regina let go, she was able to replicate it almost perfectly. 

“Nice work, Sheriff Swan.” 

Emma dropped the knife.

“Oh, sorry!” She dropped down to pick up the knife and to hide the blush that was spreading across her cheeks. She could not possibly be more embarrassed, but something about being called Sheriff Swan made something flutter in her stomach she couldn’t blame on wine.

She tried to keep her cool as Regina taught her how to make the apple mixture. While Regina rolled the dough onto the pie tin, Emma definitely did not notice the muscles in her arms or the way and she for sure did not look when Regina bent down to put the pie in the oven. She was completely fine and not feeling nothing at all. 

“Well thats it.” Regina wiped her hands on the stove towel. Now we just wait.” Regina tossed the towel to Emma, who wiped her own hands. The towel was silver with black flowers, something Regina had of course brought with her when she moved in. Emma was pretty sure she’d been using old kitchen towels before. Regina had a way of making things better.

“I’m gonna go change while that’s baking, think you can avoid burning the house down?”

Emma laughed, “Yeah, just get back before I have to take it out of the oven. “

Regina nodded and went to leave, placing her wine glass in the scene before she left. She paused in the doorway to the kitchen. “Hey Emma?”

“Yeah?”

“Life’s long, you get more than one dream. So get started, Sheriff Swan.”

Emma sat watching the doorway long after Regina left. As the sweet smell of apples began to fill the kitchen, she decided she might like pie after all.


End file.
